


Green-Eyed Monster

by Lady_Phenyx



Series: Whumptober 2019 [11]
Category: Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson, 楽しいムーミン一家 | Moomin (Anime 1990)
Genre: Blood, Don't copy to another site, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Polyamory, ask to tag, marriage proposals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 21:56:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20955545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Phenyx/pseuds/Lady_Phenyx
Summary: Joxter and Mymblemamma are primaries. She still has secondary partners, but they're temporary.Her latest lover isn't happy with that, and wants to be Mymblemamma's primary...no matter what it takes to make that happen.Whumptober Day 8: Stab Wound





	Green-Eyed Monster

Some people had trouble understanding the relationship between Joxter and Mymblemamma.

He needed to travel, to have solitude and see new things. She needed sound and to care for her many children and thrived in the chaos they created.

Joxter's need for travel had put a true strain on their relationship only once, when he found out he had missed having a son, having that son go missing, and meeting up with said son later on, when Joxter returned. When he found out that Mymblemamma hadn't told him any of it, as she hadn't been sure he would come back, that she didn't bother telling her partners when she'd had a child.

They were hers, after all, and the fathers thus far hadn't cared much about what happened after the few nights they were together. To find out Joxter did was as much a shock to her as learning he had a son was for Joxter.

But Joxter and Mymble loved each other. They understood each other and, after that one nearly disastrous intercommunication, were being much more careful about telling each other things.

And Joxter was giving his son's idea a try – stay in one place most of the year, and travel what remained.

He worried, at first, that Mymblemamma would tire of him. She was used to having many partners around, to changing them so often...

She laughed when he brought it up, quieting when she realized he was serious, looking up at her with hurt in those eyes she loved so, holding his hat in both paws and twisting it around and around. Mymblemamma ran her hand through his hair, nuzzling her nose against his.

“You're my Love,” she said when the stars had cleared from his eyes, her free hand cupping his cheek. “My Primary. Not just my lover. You're the one I miss when you're gone, and the one I welcome back. While I'm the one you come back too. The one who has sweet, lazy mornings with me, who stays and who loves me even when we aren't blinded by passion. The only one who comes to my bed for affection that's soft and sweet and just to be in my company. We've made something special, you and I. And the children adore you. That is rare, as rare as what we have.”

Mymble wasn't usually so eloquent, and adore might have been a bit strong, but the children did accept him, even Mymble and Little My, most of them waiting to see if he really meant to stay before they let themselves love – so many of her lovers didn't stay, it had always made more sense to keep some distance, so they were waiting just a bit to be sure.

But as the days went by and Joxter proved he meant it, that the promises he made he kept, well, they settled into the closest thing to a routine a Mumrik and Mymble could have.

And when he left for the winter, they found that they believed that he really meant it when he promised to come back in the spring.

\---XXX---

Of those who didn't understand their relationship, some of Mymblemamma's secondaries, her lovers, were the most annoying, as they should have known better.

Most had an image of what a mymble was – a temporary lover, someone you spent a few nights with before moving on. Those were the ones Mymblemamma usually had – no fuss, no expectations, just a little fling while Joxter was off on a trip.

Joxter knew about them, of course. They both knew it was a mymble's nature to have either a string of partners or several long term ones or a mix of both. It was just...most people didn't realize that the second was an option, one chosen just as often as the first.

Of the children old enough to have partners, Mymble had the Inspector and Too-Ticky, and both Joxter and Mymblemamma were curious if Snufkin had inherited that trait, as they'd seen the speculative looks he got around Moomin Valley and during his travels, and the way he returned those looks only towards Moomin and Snorkmaiden.

They rather hoped he followed up on those looks, or they were going to have to speak to one of them, if not all three, before the three of them pined themselves into utter misery in their attempts at making the other two happy.

It was sweet, but frustrating.

Most of Mymblemamma's secondaries took the gentle hints she gave when it was time for Joxter to return, understanding that her primary would come first and what they'd had together had been temporary. They'd known that from the beginning.

Mymblemamma was finding as she grew older that she wasn't caring so much for the temporary lovers, preferring her Joxter, as he preferred her. It was the breaking in of the new ones, their temporary nature, that was beginning to tire her where once it had been fun. Managing the ones who wanted to stay for any length of time, and the risks of the ones that were there for only a night.

Of course, there were a few...Muddler and Fuzzy, Moominpappa and Moominmamma, to be precise...that she wouldn't mind being permanent secondaries with, if the hints she was giving them worked out. They weren't secondaries at all, yet, but some of them had an idea what she was getting at. Fuzzy, she thought, was considering it, while Moominmamma she thought might have a vague idea, but the other two were still oblivious as far as she could tell, and Joxter still didn't seem to realize she knew how he felt when it came to the others.

She would have to speak to him about that soon.

Whether they did or not, Joxter was her beloved primary partner, and she'd give up all her secondaries to keep him, though so far, she'd resisted making it official. Making it official would have felt like tying Joxter down, something she knew he didn't want no matter how many times he asked her to marry him, even if it would have changed little between them. Secondaries that weren't one of the four were meant to be temporary arrangements, and they would have to either share her with Joxter or leave before he came home.

Given how needy, how jealous, how dismissive of her having a primary some of them were, she often preferred they move on before he returned, if not quite a bit before that if they were. Whether they were or not, she found it easiest if they moved on when Joxter came back.

This latest lover of Mymblemamma's stubbornly wasn't catching the hint.

He stood at the door and glared jealously where no one could see him as Joxter ran the last leg of his journey, met by Mymblemamma on the bank that the turtle had chosen as its temporary home, chosen so Joxter would be able to find them, their agreed-upon meeting point so they would never again miss each other as they had that one, awful time that had led to the long separation.

Joxter's pack was flung to the ground and he threw himself at Mymblemamma, who caught him up in her arms and spun them around, both of them laughing and beaming. Joxter's legs flew off the ground as she lifted him easily, his arms around her neck, nuzzling and kissing between peals of joyful laughter.

The children piled out of the turtle as well, crowding around the pair, leaping and calling for Joxter's attention.

Mymblemamma finally stopped spinning, adjusting Joxter in her arms so she held him up with an arm under his legs and his arm around her shoulders, his tail dangling as he leaned down, comfortable and trusting in her arms as he listened to the children's chatter.

Several of them grabbed his pack, and he laughed again, telling them to take it inside, he'd show them what was in it later, no peeking now, that ruined all the fun.

Mymblemamma carried Joxter to the house, the children still a chaotic, roiling mass around them.

Joxter smiled and waved to Mymblemamma's current lover, greeting him easily as the excitement over Joxter's return surged around the lover while they returned to the house.

\---XXX---

He continued to seethe throughout the evening, though he tried to hide it. He was less successful than he thought he was being, but Mymblemamma and Joxter were too happy to be reunited to notice, as were most of the children.

But not all of the children, who passed word to their siblings, watching him cautiously as the night continued.

Mymblemamma and Joxter spent the night laughing and joking, with Mymblemamma getting Joxter flustered, keeping him blushing as often as possible, making the children giggle and tease.

Mymblemamma and Joxter headed for her room after all the children began dropping off to sleep during Joxter's story of some of his travels (a story Mymblemamma's secondary thought had to be pure fiction, as a great, grey creature that froze the ground as she went couldn't possibly be true), the two of them gently helping the children to bed first.

They paused, looking back at him questioningly from the stairs. “Well? Are you coming?” Mymblemamma asked, tilting her head. “It can be such fun with three.”

The words he would have said stuck in his throat. Even the Mymblemamma wouldn't care to hear some of them, and they might get him kicked out, even by her. Instead, he smiled, and if it was a little strained the two didn't notice.

“Could hardly intrude on the first night back,” he said instead.

“Tomorrow, then,” Joxter said, “If your tastes run that way.” He tossed a wink to the lover, and he and Mymblemamma disappeared into her room.

\---XXX---

Joxter didn't come out that night, though the lover waited until he passed out for Joxter to do so.

The lover had never stayed in Mymblemamma's bed all the night. What were they doing in there? Surely even the Mymblemamma needed her sleep and couldn't go all night.

Rolling onto his back, he stared at the ceiling and thought.

He'd been trying to properly woo Mymblemamma for weeks. Sweet words, flowers, the works. Getting into a mymble's bed was the easy part, he needed into this one's heart. Everyone knew what a mymble was like. He had plans, for her and this mass of children.

Which meant he wasn't going to share her with anyone.

Admittedly, this Joxter was easy on the eyes, would be better once he was a little cleaned up – though it was clear he'd bathed before coming home at least.

But no. Either one was one person in a string of lovers for a mymble or their one and only, and he was a far better match for Mymblemamma than some scruffy, dirty, vagabond of a mumrik.

He eventually drifted off to sleep still trying to figure out how to get Mymblemamma to himself.

\---XXX---

Joxter was up before the lover the next morning, fixing the kids breakfast with an ease that said he'd done this chore many times before and passing out the small treats he'd brought home with him.

They weren't much – shells and feathers and rocks, really – but they were different from the ones the children had seen before, and each had one to call their own, which in a space like this was important. And each had a story to go with it, of some exotic place Joxter had been to and found it for the child.

The lover watched, hiding his jealousy under smiles and light chatter, pretending to ignore how he got a hand run over his hair by Mymblemamma when she joined them while Joxter got nuzzled, Mymbemamma's arms around his shoulders as he finished breakfast.

Or at least, tried to finish breakfast, as Mymblemamma made herself very distracting.

\---XXX---

The next few days settled into as close to a routine as the household got to. Joxter would fish, or sleep in the trees, dote on Mymblemamma and the children, tell stories or play his guitar or flute.

The lover pretended interest, pretended to be happy with Mymblemamma that Joxter was back. Kept his insults behind his teeth, pretended to be interested in sharing, in getting along with Joxter.

He couldn't bring himself to share their bed yet, but he was considering it. Especially as Mymblemamma seemed to have lost interest in him, looking instead to Joxter, no attention for anyone but him and her children.

If nothing else, it would secure his place that much more.

But not yet.

He had other ideas, he just needed to find the right time and place.

And one was coming up very soon.

\---XXX---

They attended the Midsummer Party as a group. The Moomins greeted them happily, if a touch warily. With the way the children were already running amuck, the lover almost couldn't blame them.

They were very happy to see Joxter, which rankled, and the lover's presence wasn't questioned aloud, but there were silent questions there.

The lover smiled and let himself be pulled into the crowd.

They'd see. Sooner or later, he'd be the one they were greeting as Mymblemamma's primary, and Joxter would be just a memory.

Joxter was perched on the railing of the Moomin House veranda before long along with that son of his (how was it that he and Mymble had been together so much and for so many years yet they only claimed the one was his by blood? Mymbles were notoriously fertile, so how...) while the lover made his way around the party, trying to be seen and speak to as many people as possible.

And all the while, he watched Joxter.

After an eternity, Joxter pressed a kiss to his son's hair and slipped off the railing, disappearing into the forest for a break from everyone.

And the lover followed.

\---XXX---

The Joxter was standing in a moonlit clearing when the lover found him.

Joxter turned, somehow hearing his approach, and the lover stepped into the light.

“You need to leave,” the lover said. “You've overstayed your welcome. Mymble is tired of you.”

Joxter frowned, tilting his head as those piercing eyes searched the lover's face. “If she has, she'll tell me herself,” he said bluntly, the friendliness and interest of before gone from his voice. “We agreed upon that long ago. No hints for me. You didn't catch any of ours.”

“Mymble needs a real man, one who can give her more children and be there all year for her, not some scruffy vagabond,” the lover said. “Some mumrik. Everyone knows about your kind of loyalty. How many lovers do you have on the side? Does she know about all of them?”

He looked Joxter up and down with a scowl. “A filthy, lazy, criminal. Mymble can do better than you. Or is that why you stay? Because no one else will touch a nasty little mumrik?”

Unseen, Mymblemamma paused. She'd followed Joxter into the woods, the hopes of a little Midsummer time with her Joxter, memories of kisses under the moonlight and shy blushes – which she was amazed she could still coax out of Joxter after all this time – teasing her to follow.

Now, she waited, frozen in place and hardly able to believe what she'd just heard.

“Stop this,” Joxter said coldly. “Mymble isn't the kind to enjoy people fighting over her. If you care about her at all, you should know that.”

The lover laughed. “Oh, look at the tame little kitten. Did Mymble clip your claws? Are you really that lazy?”

Joxter shook his head. “I'm going back to the party,” he said. “This is pointless. Keep it to yourself. I don't have time for this, and neither does Mymble.”

As he passed, the lover's arm shot out, grabbing Joxter and yanking him close.

He paused for a brief moment, enjoying the shock in Joxter's eyes.

And the knife he'd been carrying, unseen under his shirt, slid into Joxter's side.

Joxter spasmed, back arching. The scream caught in Joxter's throat, barely a groan managing to make it out, and he slumped into the lover's arms, eyes wide and unseeing from pain.

“Oh, how sad,” the lover said as he lowered them to the ground, pulling the knife free and watching as blood began to stain the Joxter's smock while Joxter fought to focus on him, his eyes blank from shock and pain and disbelief. “They'll find you here in the morning. Mymble's favorite lover, stabbed dead on Midsummer's eve. And I'll be there to comfort her while they search for his killer. Mymblemamma is _ mine. _”

The lover stood, hardly able to believe he'd done it.

And he was going to get away with it.

At least, he believed he would until he heard Mymblemamma scream Joxter's name, whipping about to find her watching them in horror, her hands clasped to her face as she took in the bloody knife and Joxter lying at her lover's feet.

“Get away from him!” she cried as she came barreling into the clearing, throwing the lover to the side into a tree, away from Joxter.

Joxter she snatched up, staring in horror at the blood seeping into his smock.

“Mym...” he breathed, reaching for her face.

“Don't you dare go dying on me,” she said fiercely, sliding her other arm under his legs and picking him up with ease. “Don't you even think about it!”

She set off at a run towards Moomin House, bursting from the tree line and screaming for Moominmamma.

The party faltered, people stumbling to a stop and staring in confusion, confusion that turned to screams as she burst into the light and the blood on Joxter, slowly dripping from his smock, came into view.

Moominmamma came at a run.

“He stabbed him! He stabbed my Joxter!” Mymblemamma cried. “The clearing, in the woods!”

The Inspector grabbed his helmet, stumbling free from his bench, followed by those who were deputized in the rare times of need and quite a few others who were not, racing into the woods.

More stayed behind, crowding into the light and clutching each other in fear as Mymblemamma and Moominmamma flew into the house, followed by Snufkin, Moomin, Snorkmaiden, and Moominpappa.

Outside, Mymble and Little My looked to each other, then to their horde of siblings.

“He hurt Joxterpappa,” one of the horde said.

“He tried to _ kill _Joxterpappa.”

“He still might have.”

“Joxterpappa's hurt real bad.”

“Is he gonna die?”

“Don't be stupid, Moominmamma's got him.”

“He still could.”

“The Inspector's going to catch him, right? The one who hurt Joxterpappa?”

“Do you think he can?”

“What do we do now?”

“We don't let him get away with it,” Little My said. “We don't let anybody try and take our family away.”

The horde looked at each other and to Little My. Then the looked to Mymble, who was looking into the woods thoughtfully.

She looked back at her siblings. “Don't get caught. And don't get hurt,” she said seriously.

The horde grinned back, nodded, and moved as one towards the woods.

\---XXX---

Inside Moomin House, things were quiet and tense. Mymblemamma had yet to let go of Joxter's hand, whispering to him as Moominmamma worked, Joxter fighting to breathe through the waves of pain.

His smock and shirt were discarded to the floor, and the wound was uglier without them to mask it.

Snufkin and Snorkmaiden hurried to give Moominmamma light, to hand her what she needed, while Moomin fetched everything they called for and Moominpappa boiled water, bringing new and taking away the bloodied old.

Joxter finally passed out, and Moominmamma breathed a soft sound of relief.

Mymblemamma, meanwhile, began to panic, reaching for Joxter's face.

“He's just passed out,” Moominmamma said before Mymblemamma could wake him. “Let him. It's kinder than forcing him to be awake while I stitch him up. Make sure he keeps breathing.”

Mymblemamma was fighting back tears. “He makes it through this, and I might just marry him like he keeps asking me. And let him know I know about...”

“We both know,” Moominmamma said softly. “About how he and the others feel. If he makes it through this it's time we all do something about it.”

There was no more talking then, and the children pretended they hadn't heard.

For now.

Finally, Moominmamma washed off her hands. “You can stop boiling water now, dear. I've done what I can. It missed anything vital, but not by much, and it's going to be touchy for a bit yet. If you hadn't gotten to him so quickly...he's lost a lot of blood as it is, and it's going to take time to recover from that. What ever could have caused this?”

“I saw the whole thing,” Mymblemamma said, never taking her eyes away from Joxter's face. She brushed a bit of hair away from his forehead tenderly. “I couldn't hear what was said at the last, after it happened, but I heard what happened until then, and saw it happen. I never thought...I don't understand how he could...”

She broke off, holding Joxter's hand to her cheek as the tears welled up. Moominmamma reached over and rubbed her shoulder, the two silently comforting each other as Joxter lay between them.

\---XXX---

They moved Joxter to the guest bedroom/sickroom, where Mymblemamma and Snufkin stayed with him.

Moomin and Snorkmaiden kept checking on them, bringing cloths for Joxter's forehead and tea and drinks, if they could manage to force them down, food from the party if they got hungry, both of them feeling helpless and unable to do anything else, while outside, chaos still reigned.

After awhile they stayed, as there was nothing else they could do outside, with people still afraid but calmer now. The story was passing about that it was directed at Joxter, out of cruelty and spite, and they were unlikely to be targeted – and unlikely to be invited back if they said something nasty about Joxter now, including any variation of or speculation on how he might have 'earned this'.

The two watched at the window, narrating the proceedings to Mymblemamma and Snufkin, opening it when the party turned to shouts and chaos again.

“Oh, it's the rest of the children!” Moomin said, leaning out alongside Snorkmaiden. “They...they've caught someone, got him trussed up tight. I don't...wait, he's that man you had with you earlier, Mymblemamma.”

Mymblemamma stood at that and came to the window, easily able to see over their heads. “So it is,” she said, colder than any of them had heard her before. “I'll be back soon.”

She disappeared out the door, and the ones inside glanced at each other warily.

She emerged down below, and Snufkin reluctantly left his father's side to join the other two at the window.

The children presented their mother's former lover to her as an army presents spoils of war to their general, Little My and Mymble standing by proudly.

The Inspector and his posse stumbled out of the woods just in time to hear the blistering diatribe Mymblemamma delivered, laying out everything she had just seen.

Up in Moomin House, they could only hear part of it as her voice raised, angrier than they'd believed she could be.

“How dare you! How dare you think you could ever replace my Joxter! Joxter is a more gentle, caring, considerate lover, father, and person than you could ever imagine being, and I'm going to marry him if he says yes, if only so no one ever thinks they can replace him as my primary partner and beloved ever again! How dare you hurt him! I heard every word you said to him, as if I would ever want someone like you in my sight again, let alone in my home or bed! If any of us see you again then we'll see how tame either of us is, you mark my words! My home is mobile, if we wanted, no one would ever find all the pieces!”

That done, she nodded to the Inspector, who nodded, half reverent and half terrified, to his possible mother-in-law before dragging off the would-be murderer to the cells.

Inside, a huff of a laugh came from the bed, and Snufkin ran back over to grasp his father's paw.

“Papa!”

“Huh, only took nearly getting my fool ass killed for her to say yes,” Joxter said, breathless and voice still tight with pain, eyes bright with it but alive and awake.

“I'm asking you, this time,” Mymblemamma said from the doorway. She came in and took Joxter's free paw, pressing it to her cheek. “What do you say, love? Shall we make it clear to everyone no one is replacing either of us? Are you sure it won't make you feel tied down, to have that? It's why I always said no, before.”

Joxter was already nodding before she finished, whispering a fervent “_ Yes _ ” again and again. “ _ Yes” _ and “ _ Sunshine” _ and other soft endearments.

They nuzzled, clutching each other and their son close.

“Oh, and Moominmamma and I both know,” Mymblemamma added with a playful grin, relief making her giddy. “We have to talk about _ that _, too. I rather like the idea of permanent secondary partners. I've been dropping hints to them long enough, I shouldn't be surprised she caught on.”

“Can we not while I'm right here?” Moomin asked plaintively. “Talk about my parents while thinking about...that?”

Joxter chuckled, wincing. “Where did you think you came from, Moominkit?”

“They made a wish under a new moon and a star came and put a crystal under a cabbage leaf and I appeared!” Moomin said plaintively. “I'm a gift!”

“That you are,” Snufkin and Snorkmaiden chorused, looking at each other in surprise before blushing and joining Joxter and Mymblemamma in helpless giggles, joy born of relief and release.

And the air rang again with laughter in Moomin Valley on a bright – if mortifying, for Moomin and Snufkin, as their parents acted extra sappy with not just their partners but with each other – night of new beginnings.

**Author's Note:**

> Mymblemamma's little speeches were so hard. Especially the end rant. And the argument? Nearly gave up so many times. Thanks for reading, hope the tags didn't put you off too much. :)


End file.
